The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

Horace has been traveling in Nihon-Ja, a country modeled on feudal Japan, and hasn’t been heard from in months. When word comes back that the emperor has been overthrown and a warrior cult is consolidating power, Will, Halt, Alyss, Selethen, and Evanlyn put together a rescue party. They find Horace alive — fighting on the emperor’s side — and the rest of the book is a military campaign run by a band of peasants, a disgraced emperor, and a handful of Araluens who have to figure out how to fight in a very different tradition.

The Emperor of Nihon-Ja is the last full-length novel of the core twelve-book series’ pre-Lost Stories arc. It’s a showcase for the ensemble — everyone gets screen time — and it doubles as a quiet cultural swap of tactics between two warrior traditions that have never met.